


a cat's quest for ear rubs

by sodasouffle (mellowie)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cat AU, Drabble, F/M, Felix is a cat, Fluff, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, cat and owner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26316709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellowie/pseuds/sodasouffle
Summary: All Felinya wants is ears rubs from Annette, but Annette is too busy to give him attention. One thing's for sure: Felinya does not give up easily.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Kudos: 19





	a cat's quest for ear rubs

**Author's Note:**

> a little piece for the Claws & Paws Felix zine! https://tinyurl.com/yybghfg4 (check it out for lots of kitty felix goodness~)

The human who smells of strawberries is late again today. 

Felinya lies on the top of the mini-bookshelf, poised with an air of nonchalance, unperturbed by this fact. Or so he tells himself. He sways his tail from side to side like a pendulum, ticking away the minutes to her arrival at the door.

A certain footfall echoes from the outside. At the familiar _click!_ of the knob, his ears perk up. The door creaks open and a human, the one named ‘Annette’, steps into the room. Her dishevelled hair, the colour of ripe apricots, sticks out with her uniform spotting patches of mud. The pile of papers in her arms is loaded so high he can barely see her face through them. She stumbles under the weight, making her way towards the desk.

“ _You’re back at last. What took you so long?_ ” Felinya grumbles. Not that she is able to translate his purrs into human language even if she tried. At any rate, she doesn’t seem to hear him, let alone cast a glance in his direction. Her hands are preoccupied with setting the pile of papers down on her desk and shuffling them around into categories.

“Oh, what do I do? There’s not enough time! Magic practice, surprise tests, and an upcoming examination…” Annette sighs out loud. “The Professor is not going easy on us...”

She turns and heads towards the bookshelf where Felinya has been resting for the past hour. His body tenses, knowing what is to come. He is prepared for it. Like every other human fascinated by the existence of cats, Annette would brighten once she notices his presence. She would lean close to him, reach out a hand, and make contact with his dull coat in an unsolicited caress. Then his fur would rise and he would leap onto his hind legs, hissing at her to back off.

That would be his guaranteed reaction in most cases. But just this once, he is willing to make an exception. Because this time, whether he likes to admit it or not, Felinya is facing a dire need for a thorough rubbing on the insides of his ears. Having spent days attempting to reach them on his own without much success, he sees no other way to get to them. He doesn’t think he has ear mites. He hopes he doesn’t. Either way, a good ear rub by the knowing hands of a human would be highly appreciated at this moment.

Only this once, though, as he feels like it.

Felinya watches as Anette nears him. There is a strange, different aura to her. Her eyes are in a constant state of daze with a mild puffiness hanging underneath. She walks with her head hung slightly, her footsteps wobbly and heavy. Felinya can’t help but frown. He has always thought of her as a relentlessly chirpy human who insists on playing with him when he refuses to, but now all traces of her usual self have seemed to vanish. When she extends her hand towards the shelf, he braces himself and awaits her to give his fur a scratch.

That is, until her hand passes by to take the leather hardbound book with a silver-threaded cover next to him. She dips her nose into the book, tracing her finger across the writings on the page, mumbling to herself. Felinya stares at her, astonished. With a huff, he jumps down from the shelf and lands on the carpet. He slithers past her legs, irritable, willing her to come to her senses.

Annette lets out a yelp at the abrupt brush of fur on her ankles. Scanning her surroundings for the cause of the tickle, the moment she catches sight of the black cat, her glazed eyes return to a sharp, keen focus.

“Oh, hi, kitty!” Annette says, her voice filled with relief. “How glad I am to see you! Sorry I came back late today. There were just so many things that needed to be done. How are you doing?”

She places the book on her desk and leaves it momentarily forgotten. Using her hands to smooth her rumpled skirt behind her, she bends down to her knees so that she can see him better. Felinya gazes up into her eyes. Now that he has commanded her full attention, he tugs at her arm with his paw. 

“Hmm? What is it?” Annette asks gently, her arms folded around her knees. “Do you want something, kitty? A toy, maybe?”

“ _Ear rubs_ ,” Felinya growls as a demand, not a request. She narrows her eyes at him, trying her best to discern the meaning behind his disgruntled cat noises. After a minute or so, she appears to have finally grasped his wants.

“Oh, I got it!” her hands clap at the light-bulb moment. “Silly me, how could I have forgotten?”

She reaches into her pocket, rummaging through its contents which makes a tinkling sound. “I should have some of these left from when I snuck them in during lunch…” she says. Felinya watches her, tilting his head, perplexed.

“Found it! Here you go!”

Annette opens her palm, revealing grains of millet. It is definitely not what he is asking for, but however sparse, he rarely ever turns down a tasty snack. Felinya nibbles on her hand and the grains are gone in a flash. It does enough to appease him slightly. Yet, at the same time, he gains a renewed energy to grumble more as that is not what he is looking for. He growls again but louder.

“Sorry, kitty. I wish I had more for you, but this is all I’ve got left,” Annette says with a sheepish smile. She pats Felinya on the head, as though trying to make up for it. When she begins to scratch his chin, Felinya thinks she is getting the message at last. But her scratches turn out to be brief, unsatisfactory to the touch.

“I have to get back to studying now,” she stops to stand up and stretch her sore arms. “I’ll play with you later, all right?”

She turns away. It is all Felinya can do to follow Annette to the desk and sit by as she pulls back her chair. He knows what is to come; once she grabs her quill, she would delve into her notes and books and forget all about him. But he refuses to give up just yet.

Because Felinya Meowgo can do whatever he wants. And Felinya Meowgo does not belong to anyone.

Felinya leaps onto the desk at the very spot before her. He holds his tail upright and plants his bum firm onto the papers. Annette startles at his sudden appearance. He stares straight into her bewildered eyes, daring her to defy. Ear rubs. Now.

“Wow, you sure are energetic today, kitty,” Annette comments. Felinya shoots her a pointed look. He grunts as he claws at her, his tail sweeping the sheets of papers aside. The lantern nearby shakes considerably due to the impact.

“ _Shh!_ Please be quiet, kitty!” she cries in a desperate attempt to stop him. “Seteth will never let me hear the end of it if he finds out I’ve been keeping a stray cat in my room!”

Her plea seems to be effective as Felinya pauses his destruction. He wrinkles his nose and relents, swearing that this will be the first time he lets go of his demands. As a final stubborn move, he spreads himself flat across the surface, preventing her access to her papers.

“Are you not budging at all, kitty?” Annette puts on a stern look, hands on hips, trying to imitate the Professor’s demeanour whenever Sylvain starts slacking off in the middle of sparring practice. “This isn’t the right place for a nap, you know. There’s still so much reading I have to do, I might have to burn the midnight oil or else I’ll fall behind and...”

Felinya looks at her, waving his tail, unbothered. Annette soon finds her strict expression too difficult to maintain and a sigh escapes her lips.

“Aw, what am I saying? You’re too cute to be chastised...”

Before he can react, Felinya feels the familiar warmth of hands on his side. He finds himself lifted into the air and brought to somewhere lower. Like a pillow, Annette helps him settle onto her lap with a soft smile.

“I think you can use some company sometimes,” she says, stroking his fur. “It’s not bad for a stray cat to get used to a human, right? Maybe someday, I’ll find a name for you, kitty.”

He leans into her hand, guiding her along the bridge of his head to reach the insides of his ears. _Yes_ , he purrs. That’s the spot. Annette nuzzles the cat inside the ears, giving him his much-anticipated ear rub. Felinya smiles as he curls his tail around his body. He closes his eyes, satisfied. Annette seems surprised at how calm he has grown.

The last thing Felinya picks up before succumbing to sleep is the human’s sweet whispers of _‘good night_ ’. It is something gentle, relatively unfamiliar. He wouldn’t have heard it if he had lingered behind in the dark corners of the monastery. The lantern’s glow, along with the scribbling of quill on paper, fades away into the night.

Maybe someday, he can get used to this too.


End file.
